Sunday, December 14, 2014

Denver resident seeks to block parole of Manson family killer

By Tom McGhee

The Denver Post

Posted:
12/14/2014 12:01:00 AM MST

Kay
Martley remembers cousin Gary Hinman lowering his lanky, adolescent
frame onto a bench and ripping through a classical piano repertoire as
he entertained at family gatherings in his Fort Collins home.

It
isn't easy to reconcile that vibrant image with the autopsy report
describing the multiple knife wounds and decomposing body after the
musician became the first known fatality tied to Charles Manson and his
followers.

In the 45 years since a knife to the heart ended
Hinman's life, California's Board of Parole Hearings on three separate
occasions has decided that Manson family member Bruce Davis, who was
involved in the murder, was sufficiently rehabilitated to go free.
Each time, a California governor — first Arnold Schwarzenegger, then Jerry Brown — overturned the board decision.

Davis,
72, remains locked up in the California Men's Colony in San Luis
Obispo, Calif., serving the life sentence a jury gave him 42 years
ago, despite his claims of rehabilitation.

That is where he
belongs, said Martley, a Denver resident who says she is already
dreading another parole hearing next year. She recently asked the parole
board to deny Davis' bid for release.

"None of the members of the
Manson family should ever be released into society. The horrific way my
cousin was murdered should not be forgotten. Gary was brutally tortured
for three days, then murdered and his body left to decompose. Parole is
not justice for Gary Hinman," Martley wrote in a Nov. 23 letter to the
board.

Hinman was a music teacher who moved to California,
where he befriended the Manson family. He allowed Davis and others to
stay at his home.

California's Board of Parole Hearings recently
advised Martley that Davis has asked the board to fast-track his next
parole-suitability hearing, which would normally be held no sooner than
next September.

Behind bars, Davis earned a Ph.D. in the
philosophy of religion, married, fathered a child, divorced, became a
born-again Christian and stopped using drugs. Now, he ministers to
other prisoners.

"Gary is gone, he has nothing. They took all his
privileges away for life. It makes me mad that they let (Davis) get
married and have conjugal rights. He is rehabilitated in prison? Let him
work with prisoners," she said.

Hinman's death, in July 1969,
was a big blow to a family that over four generations had carved a
comfortable place for themselves in Colorado.

The fathers of
Martley and Hinman formed Hinman Brothers Construction, a company
involved in the building of the Platoro Dam in the San Luis Valley in
the late 1940s.

Another uncle, Wallace Hinman of Yampa, served in the state legislature.

"The
whole family was devastated. We are Coloradans. We didn't have people
murdered in our family. We were taxpayers, productive citizens. We owned
ranches, businesses. It was unbelievable it could happen to members of
our family."

When Martley attended Davis' March parole hearing
at the California Men's Colony, it was the first time a member of
Hinman's family went to any of Davis' more than 25 such hearings.

Hinman's
parents are dead, and a sister who received death threats at the time
of the trial stayed away because she didn't want to relive the past,
Martley said.

"His sister said, 'I don't want to dig it up. I'm
afraid. It was awful at the time of the trial. I don't want anything to
do with it,' " Martley recalled.

Debra Tate, sister of Manson
family murder victim Sharon Tate, has attended every parole hearing for
each of the Manson family members.

"I think there are
circumstances where first-degree murder is committed and it is unlikely
to reoccur. One does their time and they are very unlikely to go back
into a situation where it is likely to repeat," Tate said.

But the
members of the Manson family are domestic terrorists and serial
murderers, and remain dangerous in spite of their age, Tate said.

"My sister would be 72 in January. I think she would be quite
disgusted at the possibility of folks like this getting out," she said.

Davis
didn't go on the murderous expedition that the Manson followers made to
actress Sharon Tate's home, where they butchered her and four others.
Nor was he involved in the killings of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca one
day later.

But a Los Angeles jury found him guilty of
participating in the murder of both Hinman and movie stuntman Donald
"Shorty" Shea, who was hacked to death because Manson believed he was an
informer.

Three times, the parole board found that Davis made
strides toward rehabilitation while in prison and is no longer a threat
to society, said Bill Sessa, spokesman for the California Department of
Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Hinman "was a nerdy kid, smart," who played piano and a number of other instruments, Martley said.
In California, he moved into a house in the hills above Los Angeles and got involved in the free-wheeling music scene.

"He had no problems as a kid, but when he got to California, then he got into drugs," Martley said.
Hinman, who was 34 when he was killed, eventually gave up the drugs and became a Buddhist, Martley said.

His Roman Catholic parents decided to take him to Japan, where he could further explore Buddhism, Martley said.

"They felt like they were supporting him since he had cleaned up from drugs," Martley said.
On July 27, 1969, Hinman was stabbed to death.

Sometimes we seem to forget Gary's murder and focus on the TLB murders. I include myself in that group.

But we shouldn't. Gary Hinman was a very nice person, a decent person, a caring person, a talented person, who cared too much. His last mistake was making friends with the Manson Family.

Gary made a special effort to help Bobby B. (I can't spell his stupid last name) and also he helped Mary Brunner with her child. He helped them many times. And never asked for a thank you.

Well he got one. The way they thanked him was to torture him for days, stab him, smother him, and then stab him again to make sure he was good and dead. A few days later, Bobby checked in on him and saw the maggots eating him. He thought it was funny.

I wonder how funny it's gonna be when the maggots eat Bobby.

That's how the Manson Family thanks people.

When Bobby got caught he claimed that Gary tried to sell him drugs. It was an excuse to make him look less evil. It didn't work.

I watched a documentary on the Hitler Channel today and watched as much as I could. And it's the same thing. People who were brainwashed by Hitler doing unspeakable things to complete strangers.

FRIENDS

"Charlie Manson is a five foot seven schizophrenic, who if it weren't for the murder of Sharon Tate, would never be known or discussed. And I'm not saying he isn't funny and entertaining. I'm saying he's a dime a dozen criminal-class punk, who had the good fortune of running into some middle class pseudo-revolutionary white girls." -- Tom G

"The simple and undeniable truth, is that Charlie and the gang were/are the biggest idiots, morons and imbeciles on the planet." -- Leary7

"Them fucking fruitcakes could not pour piss out of a boot, with the bottom written on it."--Harold True